How to Get Baby Food Stains Out of Clothes

It's one of life's little conundrums: how to remove baby food stains from clothes effectively without ruining the fabric or using a detergent that may be harmful to your little one's skin? Baby food stains can be tricky to remove at the best of times – especially when they are brightly coloured like carrot puree or tomato sauce. But what if you want to keep your energy bills down and use a gentle detergent too? With Persil products it's possible to tick all of these boxes.

Check out our advice on baby laundry and choosing a baby laundry detergent here. For tough stains, like carrot puree and pea puree, we recommend Persil small & mighty Bio as it works brilliantly on these stains, even in a cooler wash.

How to Get Baby Food Stains Out

Before you attempt to remove baby food stains you should:

Check the care labels of the clothes. Find out the maximum water temperature you can use to avoid stretching the garments and to avoid colour bleed.

Scrape any baby food off the garment carefully. This may be difficult to do without spreading the stain, but you should try to remove any excess food and avoid pushing the stain further into the fabric, as this will make it harder to get out.

Treat the stain as soon as possible. Although it's a bit of a chore to have to change your child's clothes as soon as they get food on them, it's better than allowing a stain to dry. If this happens the stain will set and will be much harder to remove.

Removing baby food stains can be as easy as child's play if you use the following steps:

Soak the stain in cold water. If you have the time, you should let the garment soak overnight. It can be handy to keep a lidded soaking bucket near your washing machine (though out of the reach of your little one) so you can put items like cloth bibs or nappies directly in to soak. Avoid using hot water as this may set the stain and may cause fabrics to shrink.

Pre-treat the stain. Before you put the garment into the wash, you might want to apply a pre-treatment to tackle especially tough stains. Persil small & mighty Bio, or Persil small & mighty Non Bio can be used in this way: the handy Stain Eraser Ball makes the liquid easy to apply, saving you time and extra effort mixing your own homemade stain removers! Be sure to follow the instructions on the label.

Wash as normal. Put the stained garment into the wash with other clothes of the same colour and fabric type and wash on a cycle recommended by the care label. If the stain remains, repeat these steps a second time. Only hang the garment out to dry, once the stain has been fully removed.

Bonus Tip. Wash your baby’s clothes with some Comfort Pure Fabric Conditioner, as well as Persil small & mighty, to make sure they’re super soft for delicate baby skin! Read our article on how to use fabric conditioner for tips.

Remember: always keep washing detergents on a high shelf or locked away from little fingers and follow the instructions on the label of your product for the recommended dosage. How do you get baby food stains out of clothes?